PARENTS could face jail sentences if their children break the law, under a shake-up of the youth justice system proposed by Justice Secretary David Lammy today.

Presenting plans as part of the new Youth Justice white paper in the Commons, Mr Lammy pledged to “cut the number of children remanded into custody by 25 per cent over this parliament,” with £5 million being invested in “intensive community placements and stronger bail support.”

He also told MPs that the age of criminal responsibility, currently 10 years, would be considered “carefully.”

The reforms include strengthening parenting orders in the wake of the inquiry into the Southport stabbings.

Currently, parents can be compelled to address their children’s behaviour through counselling and guidance, with a failure to do so possibly leading to fines.

But the use of such orders has fallen from more than a thousand in 2009-10 to 33 in 2022-23, according to the Ministry of Justice.

Mr Lammy, who is also Deputy Prime Minister, said: “We should not overcriminalise, but at the same time avoiding criminalisation must never mean overlooking risk or failing to act.”

Alliance for Youth Justice chief executive Jess Mullen said that while parental responsibility in dissuading children from breaking the law was “absolutely important,” “there is also a wider question of societal responsibility” for how to help parents support their offspring.

She told BBC Radio 4: “I think the children who are in contact with the youth justice system are extremely vulnerable and experience a wide range of issues, from poor access to children and adolescent mental health services, the challenges in the special educational needs services, the longstanding effects of austerity [and] the cost-of-living crisis.

“All of these things also impact their families. Those parents need support to be able to provide support to their children.”